Heroes Prevail Through Deeds, Villains Die from Talking Too Much

"Glad you could make it, Fury."

Pierce nodded slightly and shrugged, looking somewhat regretful. "Too bad there’s no wine. The last time we drank together was about three years ago, wasn’t it?"

"I have some."

Egghead pulled a small bottle of Azeroth Essence liquor from his coat, took a sip himself, then tossed it to Pierce.

"Not bad." Pierce drank it in one gulp, saliva and all. He seemed to savor the aftertaste, then lifted his chin. "Where did you buy this? Get me two cases later?"

"You still want to drink? After you die, I’ll pour a bottle over your tombstone every year on this day." Egghead’s face darkened. How is his skin even thicker than mine?

Pierce smiled. "At least one case a year, right? You’re not this stingy when it comes to those secret bases and secret agents."

"One bottle costs ten million. That’s more than fair for you."

Thinking of that black-hearted profiteer put Egghead in a terrible mood. "Consider it compensation for nearly getting me killed."

Pierce spread his hands helplessly. "You know how these things are."

Egghead kept staring at Pierce without looking away for even a second. "Why did you make me director?"

"Because you were the best one. And the most cold-blooded and ruthless."

Pierce put his hands on his hips and looked at Egghead. "Isn’t that what our line of work requires? Though you’re even more ruthless than I expected. You’re moving against your own superior and benefactor already? I thought you’d spare me, perhaps with life imprisonment or something. In that regard, you’re not as good as Ms. Carter."

"I did everything to protect the people," Egghead said. "That’s S.H.I.E.L.D.’s creed. You taught me that."

"Funny. So did I."

Pierce wore a solemn, earnest expression. "And my enemies are your enemies. S.H.I.E.L.D. is Hydra, and Hydra is S.H.I.E.L.D. Even if I die today, Hydra won’t die… Cut off one head, and two more will grow back. The whole of S.H.I.E.L.D. is full of Hydra people. Are you going to kill them all?"

"Didn’t you say I was the most cold-blooded and ruthless?"

Egghead’s face darkened. "I can try. Project Insight was going to kill twenty million people at once. I’d only kill tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands. That isn’t much."

"Fury, listen to me."

Pierce said, "Chaos, war, everything—and all those nuclear weapons around the world. This is a fragile world, a fragile human society, one that cannot withstand even the slightest injury. Who can guarantee that nuclear weapons won’t be detonated? As long as one goes off, they’ll all go off, and the entire surface of the planet will be destroyed!"

"Humanity cannot have only shields. It needs spears too. It cannot only defend; it must also attack. S.H.I.E.L.D. isn’t enough. Only Hydra has enough aggression. Not just against enemies from outside, like the Skrulls and the Kree, but against enemies within humanity as well—dangerous elements and ambitious schemers."

"There are over two hundred countries in the world, so many ethnic groups, thousands of different voices! If even one voice is out of harmony, it could trigger World War Three! What do we do? Make all those voices disappear, until the entire world has only one voice!"

Pierce slammed the table, every word ringing with force. "One world, one dream, one voice! Why did that Eastern dragon rise so quickly? Because 1.3 billion people had only one voice! But that isn’t enough. The whole world must have only one voice!"

"This world is full of crime. We need several, even dozens of procedures just to arrest and convict someone. The powerful and influential avoid the death penalty, get parole, get reduced sentences, and use schemes to overturn their cases! But if there is only one voice, then the moment a crime is discovered, we can arrest them immediately. Only then will this world become a better place!"

"With only one voice, gathering the strength of seven billion people, technological progress will become ten times faster. Population crises, energy crises, air pollution, ethnic conflicts, national conflicts—everything can be solved. Unite everyone’s strength and stand together against external threats!"

"To deal with the aliens you’ve always worried about—the Skrulls, the Kree, and even more alien races!"

Pierce spread his arms as if embracing the world, his face full of anticipation. "Fury, let’s join forces! You defend, I attack. You control your S.H.I.E.L.D., I control my Hydra. Shield and spear become one, and we can create a perfect world!"

His lips were dry and his voice somewhat hoarse. If only Sitwell hadn’t left. He could’ve poured me a glass of water.

He was quite satisfied with that speech. He wondered whether it could move Fury.

Under Pierce’s expectant gaze, Egghead was silent for two seconds, then grabbed his arm and dragged him to the scanner. "Master Wang was right. Villains really do talk too much."

"What are you trying to do? Issue an order to the whole world and make Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. stop fighting?"

Pierce was not disappointed. He chuckled. "This is a top-level order. It requires two A-level members to be present. Did you think I don’t have the authority to remove you?"

"Of course you would do that, but unfortunately, it isn’t enough."

Egghead flipped up his eyepatch, revealing a fake eye that stared directly at Pierce. "You can’t outplay me, Minister."

Pierce opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

Three eyes facing each other instantly became four—

No!

That fake eye definitely had X-ray vision and scanning functions. It could definitely see the world through the eyepatch, so it had always been four eyes facing each other!

Pierce pursed his lips. This black bastard had actually kept something in reserve!

Not only was his face black, his heart was even blacker!

Better to live badly than die well. As long as he lived, there was hope. Pierce let out a long sigh and could only undergo the retinal scan with Egghead to unlock it.

Egghead gathered himself for two seconds, then said in a deep voice:

"I am Nick Fury, your director. Yes, I am still alive, in the director’s office at Triskelion Headquarters."

"You can all hear my voice, and some of you can see me."

"I know none of you believe that I am Hydra’s ambitious schemer. Now, I will tell you the truth."

"Alexander Pierce is Hydra’s mole, its biggest snakehead. He has now been arrested, along with Sitwell."

"He was the one who sent people to attack me and attack Mr. Stark’s villa in Los Angeles."

"The bases spread across the world, all the battles and wars, were all instigated by him. If any of your friends, family, or loved ones died because of this, I am sorry. But remember him. He caused all of this!"

"I originally had a secret Operation Snake Hunt, meant to arrest Hydra members hidden within S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Coulson, Agent Romanoff, and Agent Barton were in charge of it. There weren’t many people involved, so I didn’t have high hopes."

"But now I have all of you."

"From this moment on, I authorize everyone to become part of Operation Snake Hunt."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel are not to fight among yourselves. Anyone trying to provoke war is Hydra."

"Subdue them, detain them, and when necessary… shoot them dead!"

"Today is the day Hydra falls!"

His forceful voice traveled through S.H.I.E.L.D.’s secure channels to every base and was broadcast on a massive scale.

For the sake of secrecy, although Hydra had infiltrated every S.H.I.E.L.D. base and every department, their actual numbers were not that high.

Likewise, there were not many people truly willing to serve as humanity’s shield.

Most people merely treated it as a job.

When they saw the internal conflict and heard Pierce declare that the S.H.I.E.L.D. director was Hydra, demanding a full-scale arrest, whether they believed him or not, they had to carry out the order.

And now, hearing the director declare that Pierce was Hydra, seeing Pierce standing right beside the director, and being ordered to hunt Hydra with all their strength, whether they believed it or not, they likewise had to carry it out.

If they would not carry it out, then they should do nothing and let others handle it.

They were not to make things worse.

The situation began developing in a better direction.

"You talk even more than I do. You’re the real villain," Pierce mocked.

"You taught me, Pierce. I have all your strengths."

Egghead said coldly, "Hydra is finished."

"I didn’t expect you to be this naive, Fury."

Pierce shook his head and smiled. "The war has already begun. No one can stop it. Not me, and not you."

"Did I say I wanted to stop it?"

Egghead said, "Pierce, your assessment of me was completely right. I wasn’t joking earlier either. Compared to twenty million dead, tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands are nothing. And in truth, that many probably won’t even die."

"You won’t do it." Pierce shook his head.

"Looks like you still don’t understand me well enough, Pierce."

Egghead said, "I don’t believe every Hydra member is absolutely loyal. In the face of death, they’ll know what to do."

"You can’t truly wipe out Hydra." Pierce took several steps back.

"Maybe Hydra will rise again someday, but not today."

Egghead pulled open his trench coat. "Besides, there was one thing you said that was right."

"Which thing?" Pierce continued backing away, reaching toward his waist.

"We need several, even dozens of procedures just to arrest and convict someone. The powerful and influential avoid the death penalty, get parole, get reduced sentences, and use schemes to overturn their cases."

"So I won’t give you that chance."

Egghead raised his hand. He was holding a gun.

Pierce turned and ran, but how could he possibly be fast enough?

Bang!

Pierce fell. Egghead was silent for a moment, then muttered to himself:

"No last words."